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A
Bone to Pick?
Q:
You indicate on your website that
you are
 not
affiliated with the National
Geographic program, "The Dog
Whisperer” which features Cesar
Millan . I've never seen him
use inappropriate or violent
techniques with animals so why are
you distancing yourself from him?
Reference
Material and Articles:
American
Humane Society
San
Francisco Chronicle
Read
About Paul Owens
A:
The methods
demonstrated by Mr. Millan include
the use of choke collars, jerking,
hitting, asphyxiation,
pinning
to the ground, etc. He has
stated that any method is okay to
use as long as it works.
He uses
physical punishment and “flooding”
in order to suppress a dog's
behavior. Physical punishment
involves applying a physical
aversive to reduce the probability
of the behavior continuing.
“Flooding” refers to physically
forcing a dog into an overwhelming
situation he or she is afraid of
until the dog “shuts down” or the
behavior is suppressed.
Using negative
methods with fearful or aggressive
dogs is actually dangerous (as
demonstrated on the program) and
unnecessary. People trying
these methods at home, could likely
kill their best friend. They
are certainly not very easy on the
dogs. Most importantly, these
methods are not the most effective
in modifying problematic behaviors.
Behavioral
science has shown that
suppressing behavior, especially
through physical force or the threat
of force, does nothing to bring
confidence to a fearful dog or calm
an aggressive dog, it only
suppresses that behavior (out of
fear) in that particular
situation.
Most of the
physical-force methods demonstrated
on this program are in contrast to
the positive behavior modification
programs used by professional
trainers around the world, including
the leading veterinary schools of
behavior at University of
Pennsylvania, Tufts University,
Cornell, University of California at
Davis, and many others. They have
found negative training to be
unsafe, unnecessary and ineffective
in the long run. Thirty years ago I
used most of the negative methods
shown on the National Geographic
program and became skilled in both
positive and negative training. In
the past 15 years, along with other
professionals and the leading animal
behavioral scientists at the
institutions referenced above, I
have abandoned negative training,
finding it to be less effective and
certainly not as kind as positive
training. I believe positive
training is easier and more
effective with even the most
aggressive or fearful dog, as well
as being less stressful for the
human.
I recommend
that you interview trainers and find
out the methods he or she uses
before hiring him or her. I further
recommend getting referrals and
watching the trainer in action. Only
then can you can make an informed
decision and choose for yourself the
methods you will ultimately use.
Reference
Material and Articles:
New
York Times
Dog
Time Media
American
Humane Society
SF-SPCA
San
Francisco Chronicle
DogWorks
Article Archive
Read
About Paul Owens
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